Justin Rose paid tribute to new world No1 Jordan Spieth and PGA Championship winner Jason Day, saying golf was witnessing the start of “a new era”.
The Englishman revealed he still couldn’t quite believe that he did not add another major in 2015 to his 2013 US Open triumph, but vowed to “win some more” in the future.
Rose shot a combined 34-under par in this year’s four majors – the fourth best aggregate to par in history – and still saw himself pipped to the line by the record-breaking antics of twenty-somethings Spieth and Day, who swept three of the year’s biggest prizes.
Five of the last six majors have been won by either Spieth, who is 22, the 26-year-old Rory McIlroy or the 27-year-old Day leaving Rose feeling like an old man trying to crash a kids’ party. But he vowed there was still life left in his 35-year-old body.
“I’ve played the best golf of my life since I turned 30,” the world No 5 said in a telephone interview from his home in the Bahamas, as he confirmed his participation in the European Tour’s Hong Kong Open in October.
“For me, I’m still hoping that my best golf is ahead of me but at the same time you look at the future and everybody’s getting younger. It’s the start of a new era of golf,” he said.
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“It’s incredibly strong right now. My major scores combined have been the lowest ever total shot to not win one. Sometimes it’s a case of knocking on the door and I’m going to create many more chances to win major championships. I’m going to win some, I’m going to lose some, but the door is going to open again.”
Rose was second at 14-under par at the Masters, but was still four strokes behind winner Spieth. He was 27th at the US Open when Spieth won again.
But Rose shot 11-under to tie for sixth at the British Open four behind Zach Johnson (Spieth and Day shared fourth place) and was fourth in last week’s PGA Championship, again on -14, six adrift of record-breaking Day.
“I played with Jordan Spieth at the Masters and he shot 18-under par which was a record winning score,” said Rose. “It was equalled only by Tiger Woods in 1997 and we often thought that would never be replicated and here’s Jordan at 21 doing the same thing.
“And then here’s Jason Day shooting 20-under par in a major championship – again a record total. So, a couple of my good weeks in the majors have come up against record scores.”
Spieth has enjoyed an almost unbelievable rise since winning the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic as a teenager two weeks before his 20th birthday in July 2013. Rose said the key to success has been the 22-year－old’s composure and maturity.
“I’ve always been very impressed with how he handles himself, he seems very mature,” said Rose, who himself burst onto the scene with fourth place in the 1998 Open Championship as an 18-year-old amateur.
“The thing I’ve noticed about Jordan is that every time he plays a bad round, the very next day he bounces back with a strong round. That tells me a lot about him as a person and his character and I think that’s been the most impressive thing that I’ve seen.”
